Is the Renminbi the Next Global Currency?

The U.S. dollar’s run as the world’s stable currency has stumbled with the recent financial crisis. Waiting in the wings is the renminbi. But according to economist Geng Xiao, it’s still in China’s—and the world’s—best interest not to dump the dollar just yet.

In this video interview, Geng Xiao, director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy, explains why China needs time to push through difficult economic reforms at home before it can allow its currency to float freely against the dollar. McKinsey Publishing’s Clay Chandler conducted the interview with Xiao in Hong Kong.

The Chinese leadership has promised for years that reform was around the bend and then you see things like President Xi’s speech where he emphasized the central role of the party... Members of the business community see the Trump administration as an opportunity for the U.S. to rattle the cage in Beijing.